I will discuss perspectives on experiments that seek to build interesting quantum states atom by atom with neutral particles. This frontier aims to control single atoms, and even molecules, by individual catching and manipulation, often in tiny focused laser beams referred to as optical tweezers. These particles can then be tailored to interact with each other controllably over short or long range. In my research group, we have carried out experiments that catch rubidium atom nearly deterministically, place them in their motional ground state, and look at Hong-Ou-Mandel interference of the bosonic atoms and spin entanglement of two atoms. I will examine how access to microscale traps and single-particle imaging is providing us with new windows on laser cooling and ultracold collisions.
Host: David DeMille (david.demille@yale.edu) or Jack Harris (jack.harris@yale.edu)